Why the reef stands far from Bau
(A Legend from Fiji)
Islands in the vast Pacific Ocean are surrounded by the not-so-peaceful Pacific. Many islands are only a few feet above the surface of the water at their highest. During times of high tide or storm they may find themselves completely submerged! Many are the stories told of islanders lashing themselves to tall palm trees to save themselves from being washed out to sea during typhoons.
Other islands are more fortunate. Some are high volcanic islands standing far above the raging surf. Still other islands have reefs that protect them from the ocean's temper.
The islands of Fiji have just such a vast protecting reef. It extends over three hundred miles and breaks much of the force of the open ocean before it reaches land. The reef also quiets the pounding surf. At some places, where the reef is a long way from the land, it may be hard to even hear the sound of the ocean.
The reef was not always so far from land. At one time, when the gods of the earth and sea still lived in Fiji, there lived a goddess, Bui Vo, on the island of Bau.
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Bui Vo was hungry. Even goddesses got hungry. Bui Vo was known for her great hunger and also for her great cooking pot, which she kept near her hut. This cooking pot was her favorite pot. Ivi nuts were her favorite food.
"I am hungry," thought Bui Vo. "I will make some ivi nuts." The thought of her favorite food made Bui Vo very happy. She set to work at once.
Cooking ivi nuts is not easy. Ivi nuts are very very hard. They are too hard for even a goddess like Bui Vo to eat.
To soften the nuts, Bui Vo filled her cooking pot with water. Then she added the nuts and put the pot on a huge fire to boil. The nuts needed to boil for a very long time to make them tender.
As Bui Vo gathered wood for her fire, she did not notice a big storm approaching from the ocean. The storm began to make big waves. We call these waves "whitecaps."
Soon Bui Vo's pot was boiling well. She listened to the wonderful sound of the nuts boiling. When the boiling sound got softer, she knew it was time to add more water. She kept adding water to the pot to keep the nuts covered and boiling.
At that time, the reef around Bau was very near the shore. As the storm grew bigger, huge waves began to crash against the rocks. "Whoosh, whoosh," they cried, sounding ever so much like the "sploosh, sploosh" sound of the boiling ivi nuts.
Bui Vo heard the loud "whoosh, whoosh." "Good," she thought. "My ivi nuts are boiling well. I can almost taste them!" Bui Vo really loved ivi nuts. She relaxed in her hut and waited.
Bui Vo fell asleep. When she awoke, she remembered her nuts and started to rush out of her hut. Then she heard the familiar "whoosh, whoosh" sound. It was even louder than before. "My," she thought, "How well the ivi nuts are boiling today." Since the sound was even louder, she did not go out to add more water to the pot.
All that day, Bui Vo rested in her hut. She kept listening for the sound of the boiling to get softer, but the loud "whoosh, whoosh" only got louder.
By this time the storm had struck the island, and rain fell all around the hut of Bui Vo. Suddenly she smelled something burning! It smelled really bad.
Bui Vo stuck her nose out of her hut and smelled to the east. It smelled bad. Then she smelled to the west. It still smelled bad. Really bad.
Bui Vo smelled out toward the ocean. She still smelled the bad smell. Then she finally smelled toward the land, toward where her ivi nuts were cooking. This time the smell was so bad she could hardly stand it.
When she looked toward the smell, she saw black smoke coming out of her cooking pot!
"My ivi nuts!" she screamed. Bui Vo rushed out of her hut. A sad sight greeted her.
The cooking pot had boiled completely dry. Inside her favorite pot was a smoking black mess. The ivi nuts had burned to charcoal. "My ivi nuts are burned! I do not have any supper," she wailed. But that was not all.
While Bui Vo looked into her pot, the large earthenware pot suddenly cracked into two pieces. The ruined pot lay in the ashes of the fire. "My pot! My favorite pot is ruined."
At first Bui Vo was sad. Then she was mad. "Why did this happen?" she demanded. Then she heard the "whoosh, whoosh" of the waves striking the reef. Bui Vo understood.
"You tricked me!" she screamed at the reef. "You and your waves sounded like my boiling pot of ivi nuts. You are a wicked reef. Go away. Go far away from this place."
The reef obeyed. Now the reef is built far out to sea. The sounds of the surf can no longer be heard on Bau.
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